Was anyone else on the Victoria Line this morning?

Question

Our driver on the Victoria Line this morning must have thought he was a rally driver. He would come screaming into the stations, then lock the brakes on. He did it at every single station and at signal stops on route. People were clinging on to the poles to stop themselves being hurled down the carriage. It was like landing on an aircraft carrier.

Answer 1

WOW sounds fun

Answer 2

That's the most action the Victoria Line has seen since it was opened. Sounds like a fun "edge of the seat" journey.

Answer 3

That last answer was really informative but NO ONE HERE HAS MENTIONED HOW TO COMPLAIN TO THE AUTHORITIES so that they don't get killed the next time. All because of some stupid software glitch.

Answer 4

no I was not on the bloody victoria line this morning. This morning I was laying in bed with a bottle of wine, do not have to work , live in the horrible north of england, and soon go in two weeks to a beautiul muslim country, not that I endorse religion, in fact I hate religion, but, the safest place on the planet is Morocco.+ belt yourselves you wage slavers and super mini micro phones, and twurlly perms and fake tans and package holidays, and hoping for the ladt dance. I hate u.k.

Answer 5

The person at the front of a Victoria Line train does not drive it - that is done by an on-board computer which receives signals from the track. The human's purpose is to apply emergency brakes should an incident occur and to open and close the train doors at a station stop.The software used on the Central line (which is 20 years later than that used on the Victoria Line) is designed to give maximum rate of acceleration and maximum deceleration so as to increase line capacity. Perhaps your train had been fitted with this new software but it had not been tuned properly.

Answer 6

Wow, I think I was on the same train. That guy was in a hurry.

Answer 7

yeah, i was the driver, problem ????

Answer 8

I was on the Victoria line this morning but obviously not on the same train as you.

Answer 9

As Greyhankey indicated, Victoria Line trains use Automatic Train Operation (ATO). The driver intervenes if there is a technical fault or an emergency. Also, drivers have to apply extra braking power if the  train looks like it is going to overrun the stopping mark. This last scenario is extremely common, particularly with a heavy load in high speed areas. Often, due to the fact that the braking rate is continuously varied by the auto driver box, a potential overrun will not be apparent until the last few seconds, resulting in the driver applying full emergency.

In addition to all of that, the trains were recently fitted with new auto driver boxes, which are programmed to brake later and harder than the old ones. As a result, drivers are more likely to apply the emergency brake in platform areas because they perceive an increased risk of an overrun. If such an overrun happens, the driver will have to request the station supervisor to attend, who will authorise either a wrong direction move back into the platform (a lengthy and therefore unlikely procedure), the driver to open the doors except those in the leading car (if the overrun is less than one car) or the train to proceed to the next station without opening the doors. Either way, it means about a ten minute delay and mega hassle for passengers and driver alike. Much better just to slam on the anchors.

Regarding braking between stations at signals and headway posts, this was unlikely to have been driver intervention as the stopping mark is a long way back and trains are programmed with a margin for error of around plus or minus fifty feet.